There are pros and cons to any decision you make. Ultimately, you have to go with what is the most logical, what fits, what’s right.
MEGAComm is our national conference, a serious endeavor representing our community. Last year, dozens of international tech writers joined and were amazed at the quality of the presenters AND the quality of the comments. MEGAComm deserves to be 2 days, like almost every other technical writing conference in the world AND we, as technical writers/communicators deserve to be treated as other professionals in the world – given the time to meet others, learn, keep up with what’s happening.
Why? Logical question, so here are some logical answers:
- When you ask international guests to fly 5 hours, 15, hours to join in a conference, they expect it to be at least 2 days. To fly for a 1 hour presentation is ridiculous.
- To give one speaker two sessions in a one day conference limits how many others could speak and yet, speakers are professional and have so much information to share.
- This year, we are having Tom Johnson, Kirk St. Amant, and many others. We’ll be releasing this year’s program as soon as possible.
Where are there 2-day conferences?
- India
- Germany (3 days)
- Italy
- Austria
- Serbia
- Netherlands (3 days)
- Bulgaria
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Ireland
- England
- STC Illinois (4 days)
- ContentTECH Summit (3 days)
- Write the Docs Portland (3 days)
- Poland (3 days)
- LavaCon – New Orleans (4 days)
- API THE DOCS (3 days)
- ConVEx Arizona (3 days)
Where are there 1-day conferences?
- Israel
Our community in Israel includes hundreds (perhaps thousands) of technical writers working in both Hebrew and English (and sometimes in other languages). We have been working to build a professional organization – tekom Israel, have regular meetups, have an active email list – Techshoret, an active Facebook group, active LinkedIn groups and more.
This year, for the first time, we will join dozens of other countries in having a professional, two-day conference. Because MEGAComm 2024 will be a truly-hybrid experience, everyone is welcome to come to one day of the conference in-person and one day online if you are concerned that 2 days in-person is too much.
And a final word. Lavacon costs about $500 per day (MEGAComm costs less for both days). The STC Summit is 4 days and costs over 5,000 NIS ($1,495). MEGAComm is a fraction of most conferences and offers not only a comparable experience in terms of content but one that is unique to our community.